Last year, the Bowdoin Polar Bears came to Medford on Homecomingweekend and scratched out a 1-0 victory over Tufts on its homefield in front of screaming fans and alumni.
On Saturday, however, the Jumbos avenged that loss, earning whatcould prove to be their biggest victory of the season with a 1-0win on the road over the Bears.
"It's always nice to get revenge," coach Martha Whiting said."We tend to play well up at Bowdoin, and there was a good crowd,but I'm not overly surprised that we won."
The win put the Jumbos, who before the game were tied withBowdoin and Bates for fourth place in the NESCAC, into solepossession of third place at 3-3-2 overall (2-1-2, NESCAC), just ahalf game behind Amherst for second. The loss dropped the PolarBears (2-3-1, NESCAC) into a tie for sixth place in the conferencewith Colby.
"It really was great because getting a road win in the NESCAC ishuge to begin with, and it was really nice to see the girls playhard and deserve a hard fought win," Whiting said. "I was veryhappy for them because they really deserved the victory."
The Jumbos came out very aggressively at the start of the game,controlling the pace of play and keeping the ball in the Bowdoinzone.
In the 12th minute, the squad was rewarded for its hustle. Afoul call deep in the Bowdoin zone gave Tufts a direct kick at the12:44 mark in the first half. Senior co-captain Becky Greensteinlined up the kick and bended it past Bowdoin senior goalie AnnaShapell for the game's first goal, putting Tufts up 1-0 early.
The goal was Greenstein's first of the season, tying her for theteam lead in points with four (1G, 2A).
For the second consecutive weekend, the Jumbos did not losetheir intensity after scoring a goal, a problem that plagued themat the beginning of the season but appears to be remedied.
"It was good because that's been an issue for us all year, and Ithink that the girls really understand what we need to do now,"Whiting said. "We're on a mission, there is no letting up anymore,it's all about how you finish and we know that now. It's not evenan option."
Tufts' defense, led by senior keeper Meg McCourt and sweeperCatherine Benedict, held strong for the entire 90 minutes to earn ashutout for the Jumbos. The defense has been solid all season,allowing just six goals to conference opponents, good for thirdbest in the NESCAC behind Amherst and Middlebury.
At halftime, the Jumbos emphasized that the game was far fromover and they needed to go out and play like it was 0-0.
"I talked about things we needed to do better in the secondhalf, but it was mainly more tactical things," Whiting said. "Wedidn't really get loud or crazy at halftime; it was a lot aboutkeeping our composure and playing like we were losing."
The squad did exactly that in the second half, keeping theircomposure and never letting up the intensity on defense. The teamkept the Bowdoin backfield honest on offense, not allowing it tosend extra players up to attack.
The Bears out shot the Jumbos 10-7 and took eight corners tojust two for Tufts, but the defense held strong throughout thegame, quelling a late charge by Bowdoin to seal the victory.
"Meg [McCourt] really came out well on at least three of thecorners, attacking the ball and punching it right out of the zone,"Whiting said. "The back four plus Meg [McCourt] and Becky[Greenstein] are really playing together. They really understandthe whole concept of our defense, and look like their moving on astring out there."
The Jumbos have virtually no time to dwell on the victory,however, as the squad is back in action against NESCAC rivalWesleyan today at 4 p.m. on Kraft Field.
Despite the Cardinals' mediocre 1-4 record against conferenceopponents, the Jumbos are not taking the game lightly because theyknow every NESCAC game from here on out is extremely important.
"Every NESCAC game is huge," junior Sarah Callaghan said. "We'refocusing on one game at a time, we've put ourselves into a goodposition in the league and we want to keep improving eachgame."
